Page 266 of Burn Bright

“I already did. In my head. Like fifteen times.” I watch his gorgeous smile widening again. “Butyes. Definitely. Christmas in Philly with your family is going in the calendar. With an alarm alert.”

“An electronic beep?”

“Even better, a punk rock song.”

“Just don’t choose anything from Nothing Personal. If Tom hears that band come out of your phone, he might retract your offer.”

I give him a look. “Are you serious?”

“Deadass.”

“That is so petty.” My lips twitch in a slight smile. “I appreciate the commitment to his feud.” And I guess if I become the drummer of The Carraways, it’ll be my vendetta too.

61

BEN COBALT

Wednesdays are for my family. For the Cobalt Empire. It’s my first Wednesday Night Dinner since I’ve returned, since I’ve named the monster in my head, and apprehension hasn’t struck me. I’m not jittery or rattled yet because A.) I’m not hiding anything anymore and B.) I’m doing my absolute best not to think about the house burning down and C.) the focus is more so on Audrey tonight.

We’re not in the dining room yet.

Our youngest sister has requested a sibling photo, and as soon as we arrive, she corrals all of us into the library—one that’d be the envy of most bookworms. With floor-to-ceiling dark wooden bookcases, fancy crown molding, several built-in ladders, a roaring fireplace, and candle-lit chandelier. The moody academic atmosphere is as familiar as it is unfamiliar because I rarely spent time in here growing up. I found it gloomy.

Now, as light rain taps the windowpane and fire crackles against real logs, I find it calming.

“What happened to the club chairs?” Tom asks.

“I had the furniture rearranged for our picture.” Audrey motions to a midnight blue Chesterfield sofa. “Sit, please. Charlie preferably in the middle. Merci infiniment.”Thank you infinitely.

He’s clearly annoyed, but I snap a glare at him, hoping he remembers the ride here. My brothers and I carpooled to Philly in a limo-style SUV so we were facing each other the whole way. Audrey had already informed us about the photo and told everyone to wear blue.

Charlie, ever the nonconformist, did not conform to a dress code this time. He climbed into the car wearing black tailored slacks and a black suit jacket—no shirt underneath. I can’t remember who mentioned Audrey first on the drive, just that we talked about her theentiretwo hours.

“She’s unaffected, dude,” Tom told Beckett, who had questioned how Audrey had been faring since the fentanyl overdose. “You would actually think she popped a Tylenol that night.”

Beckett made an uncertain face. “It might be an act.”

“Yeah, I don’t believe it had no effect on her either,” I said. “I can’t see how nothing changes from this.”

“Of course you couldn’t,” Charlie pointed out.

Which pissed off Eliot, surprisingly. He typically stays neutral or makes excuses for Charlie. Instead, he glowered. “You go all the way to Alaska to bring back our youngest brother just to nettle him.”

“I’m okay, Eliot,” I told him.

“He’s okay, Eliot,” Charlie said mockingly. “Look, I brought him back so he could tell you he’s fine.” He forced a tight smile.

Eliot let it go, only because Tom cut in, “I’m telling you all, Audrey Virginia isn’t dwelling. She said, and I quote, ‘Nothing can destroy me. I’m a Cobalt.’”

Beckett rubbed his eyes.

I shook my head harder. “Shewantsto be unaffected, Tom. It doesn’t mean she is. She wasterrifiedthat night, and on top of it all, I left because what happened to her sent me over. Now she’s suddenly taken up scrapbooking?” It’s why she wants a posed group photo. To immortalize memories of us together. “So is she just telling us she’s fine? Or is she pretending to be fine to stay strong for me?”

“Maybe I want her to be fine,” Tom shrugged. “I don’t want that night to stick with her or change her. Do you?”

“No,” I said. “If that night could have zero impact on her, that’s what I’d take, but that seems unrealistic.”

Charlie slid an arm on the seat behind Beckett. “Or nothing can pierce her ten-inch armor.”